In the form of a phoenix, with his saddlebags in tow, Aurelic zips around in the part of the Everfree near Sweet Apple Acres, looking for any stage of the first patch of zapapple trees. "Granny Smith couldn't have gone that far out to find them." Phoenix Aurelic surmises as he speeds through the forest. Soon, the sky grows darker, and lightning strikes. Aurelic flies to the site of the strike, right to the zapapple trees. Unfortunately for him, they've only gone into the stage where the grey apples form. "Fucking... you know what? I can wait here. All god damn night if I have to." Aurelic perches on top of a tree, reverting to his usual self and putting his bags back on. He retrieves his lightsaber from a bag, and putting it back into the usual cavity he shifts into his body for it. "Anything tries to get me, I'll fucking end em all! And once I get the seeds, I can analyze their magic, and chemical makeup to see what the active ingredient is. And as a bonus, I'll also get to try zapapples!" Aurelic muses, waiting. And waiting. And waiting... And waiting some more. Eventually, he begins to use his illusions to entertain himself, from simple small geometric shapes morphing and moving in front of him, to memories of old videos and movies from before his arrival in magic rainbow happy tramp-stamp talking horse land.

Eventually, a manticore wanders through, not paying any mind to Aurelic, to his relief. "Good thing I'm not a pony... That would look like fresh meat to a manticore. But bugs? Guess they're not on the menu for this one..."

Hours pass, until finally, the clouds roll in one last time. Aurelic quickly hops off of the tree, waiting for the zapapples to ripen. Brilliant rainbow beams shoot from each apple to the next, forming the coloration, and shaping the apples into a square-ish shape. As Aurelic begins magically picking the zapapples and stuffs them into his bags, company arrives. A full pack of timberwolves growl at him, emerging from the shadows one by one. Aurelic stares them down right back, despite being surrounded. A thought occurs to him. Quickly, he turns into a larger looking timberwolf. The growls become clearer, forming rudimentary words.

"Our food. You leave, or we kill." What Aurelic assumes is the pack leader growls.

"Only taking some. I no come back after. Leave alone, or I kill you." Aurelic responds, ready to shift back and use his saber again if he needs to.

"No! You put food back now!" The wolf snarls.

Aurelic shifts into his old human form, grasping and activating his saber. "Last warning. The last timberwolf to meet this blade didn't come back."

The wolves all lunge forward, as Aurelic's instincts kick into gear. All the saber fighting in his recently ended childhood, all the move copying from the movies and shows, all coalesces into a spectacular, lightning fast battle. The lavender-hued blade swiping in a blur throughout the area, adrenaline pumping through Aurelic's veins. Chunks of seared timber sailing every which way, the cries of yelping timberwolves mixed with the sound of saber burning through wood, the smell of burned bark and sap permeating the area. Some wolves flee, with a few wounded following behind. The battle ended just as quickly as it started, the carnage being the only indication anything had happened. Aurelic scrunches his nose. That... that shouldn't have felt as exhilarating as it did... They were just protecting a food source after all... You know what? No, fuck them. Timberwolves go after ponies with intent to kill and eat. And, they're dark beasts created by Grogar for fuck's sake! Good riddance. Aurelic thinks, switching back to normal and heading home with his newly acquired rare fruit find.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

Forge walks alongside Applejack, Twilight, and Spike after helping Applejack harvest even more apples. Currently catching the apples Spike is discarding thoughtlessly. "Fucking hell Spike, Applejack can't win the bet if you keep throwing apples out." Forge thinks, bumping into the halted Twilight on accident. That's when he notices Spike chomping a giant looking apple. "Oh fuck, is it time for that already?" Forge thinks, right as Spike burps out a scroll. "Welp, train wreck time here we come."

Spike reads out the letter, and then burps out the tickets for Twilight and her plus one. Forge sits there patiently, waiting for Applejack to finish giving her spiel on what she could do if given a chance to go to the gala. But before Twilight can say anything in response, Rainbow comes crashing down from the tree where they'd just so happened to stop. Forge zones out at that point, grabbing and eating a few green apples. "Yep, just the right amount of sour. Mmmmmmm. Just cause it doesn't fill me up doesn't mean I can't still eat anything." Eventually, Forge follows Twilight out of the farm.

"Um, Forge, I just said I can't make important decisions on an empty stomach. If you want the ticket, you'll have to wait like Applejack and Rainbow Dash." Twilight explains, hoping to get rid of Forge before he can ask for the ticket.

"Who says I want the extra ticket? I really couldn't care less who you give it to, I was just leaving the farm like you. By the way, I was wondering if I could get your scientific help later. I've got some zapapple seeds, and I want to find out what makes them grow the trees near instantly." Forge explains.

"Oh, well sure! I'll help you after the ticket situation's all sorted out. Deal?" Twilight stops walking to extend a hoof.

"Deal. Just send a scroll when you're ready, I'll be around town for today, so it shouldn't take too long for me to get to the library." Forge confirms, waving as he parts ways with Twilight.

As it turns out, that was useless, as he passes by a bickering Pinkie and Rarity on his way to Sugarcube Corner. He just rolls his eyes, walking in and orders some black and white cookies.

"Um, what's a black and white cookie?" The currently attending Mrs. Cake asks.

Forge double-takes. "Are... are you joking right now?"

Mrs. cake simply shakes her head. "No, I'm afraid not. Where are they usually sold?"

"Manehattan, if I remember right. Maybe you'll see them next time you're out there for a delivery or something?" Forge half-lies. "I assume Manehattan's the equivalent of New York, and that's usually where the big, fluffier black and white cookies are made."

Mrs. Cake nods. "Okay, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them. Anything else you'd want?"

"How about some lemon meringue pie then? I tend to like lemon flavored pastries. Heck, I get lemon jelly donuts from Donut Joe's all the time." Forge says.

"Okay, let me go cut some pie for you then. I'll be right back." Mrs. Cake says, heading into the kitchen area.

"Strange, they must not have it in the front right now..." Forge thinks, looking at the display case. Sure enough, there's no lemon meringue pie label anywhere in it. "Must not have enough room for it in the case."

Mrs. Cake comes back out, with the slice of pie. "Alrighty, one slice of lemon meringue pie. That'll be four bits."

Forge sets the bits on the counter. "Thank you, this looks delicious." Forge brings the pie to a table, sitting down to enjoy it. "And it even has that made with love scent to it!" Forge thinks as he drives the fork into the pie to eat it, watching the chaos outside from the window. "After all, what good is a show without snacks?"

Twilight finally takes a stance, doing the equivalent of telling everyone to fuck off. "That's what I like to see, actual assertion! Good job book brain." Forge thinks as he finishes his pie, and exits Sugarcube Corner. He finds a suitable looking bench to relax on, until he notices the pegasi moving in some rainclouds. "Oh, fuck. Forgot about that. I hate the rain. It's all... cold and wet, and the wind chill gets even worse when you're wet. Not like warm showers, those are actually nice." Forge heads to the nearby gazebo in the park area, taking shelter there until the rain passes.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

Once the rain passes, Forge makes his way back to the bench, using his magic to pull every water molecule on the bench off so he won't get his ass wet. All he has to do now is sit back, and relax. And wait for the inevitable stampede of ponies desperate for the gala ticket. Sadly, the real thing lacks the Benny-Hill theme. Forge decides to head over to the treebrary, where the rest of the elements are no doubt waiting for Twilight to return. Forge teleports inside and drops his disguise. Lo and behold, the other five are already there.

"Aurelic? What are you doing here? Are you here for the ticket too?" Pinkie asks.

"No, I'm here cause I want Twilight's help with a science thing. Just figured I'd read to pass the time until she's ready. Though with this ticket crap going on, I might have to wait until at least tomorrow." Aurelic explains, walking to a bookshelf to browse. Once he finds a book, he sits at the table to read.

After a few hours, and a few read books, Twilight pops into the library with a very crispy dragon. The two purple librarians don't even bother to look around well enough to notice the ponies sitting in the upper floor plain as day. Then, Aurelic turns the light on.

"I was reading." Aurelic comments while Twilight screams in a mix of frustration and anguish.

Then, Twilight invokes her inner Pinkie Pie. "I CAN'T DECIDE! I JUST CAN'T DECIDE! It'simportanttoallofyouandIcan'tstandtodisappointanyofyouandgivingmegiftsanddoingmefavorswon'tmakeanydifferencebecauseyou'reallmyfriendsandIwannamakeyouallhappyandIcan't! I just can't!" Twilight finishes, in a cowering position on the floor.

Applejack approaches Twilight. "Twilight, sugar, I... I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you. And if it helps, I don't want the ticket anymore. You can give it to somepony else. I won't feel bad, I promise."

"Me too. I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful." Fluttershy says, the guilt weighing heavy on her.

"And me too, it's no fun upsetting your friends." Pinkie adds.

"Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Rarity admits.

Rainbow flies into the air excitedly. "Yesss! That means the ticket is mine! Haha! I get the ticket, I get the ticket~" She gloats, met with hard stares from Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity. "What? Aurelic said he didn't want it..." The stares continue. "Ya know... I haven't perfected my signature moves for the Wonderbolts anyway. I don't need that ticket either."

"We all got so gung-ho about goin' to the gala, that we couldn't see how un-gung-ho we were making you." Applejack says, all but directly saying what the moral is.

"We're sorry Twilight." All but Aurelic apologize.

"Spike, take down a note." Twilight orders her not slave. "Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings. But when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends feels pretty awful. So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning both tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala."

"What!?" Everyone but Aurelic exclaims. Meanwhile, Aurelic just continues reading.

"If my friends can't all go, then I don't wanna go either." Twilight finishes.

"Twilight, ya don't have to do that..." Applejack says in an attempt to let Twilight still go.

"Nope. I've made up my mind. Spike, you can send the letter now." Twilight says assuredly.

"Now you won't get to go to the gala either..." Fluttershy says remorsefully.

"It's okay girls. I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me." Twilight says, as her friends gather for a group hug. "I'd rather not go at all."

"So, why didn't you want the ticket anyway Aurey?" Pinkie asks.

"I mean, I already have one. Why would I need another?" Aurelic responds.

"WHAT!?" The entire room shouts in disbelief.

"Yeah, Celestia gave me mine this morning." Aurelic confirms.

"Why didn't you say anything before!?" Rainbow asks, miffed.

"You didn't ask." Aurelic says.

At that moment, Spike burps out another scroll.

"A letter from the princess? That was fast." Twilight remarks.

"Almost as if it was prepared beforehand..." Aurelic thinks with a smirk.

Spike opens the scroll. "My faithful student Twilight, why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Spike pulls out the six tickets. "Six tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Now we can all go together!" Twilight exclaims in excitement.

Aurelic redisguises himself, following the group out of the library to Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight looks to Forge as they walk. "Don't you still have your plus one too?" She asks curiously.

"Eh, not important. If anything, it's less stress on the catering staff." Forge reasons.

"Why don't you take Luna with you? You know you want to~" Rainbow teases.

"She's still getting used to things after her thousand year time out. She'll make a public appearance when she's ready." Forge states.

"So, you're really not gonna take anypony as your plus one?" Applejack asks.

Forge shakes his head. "Nope. I don't exactly have anyone I want to bring with me who either can go, or isn't already going. Now, what kinds of cupcakes are we talking here Pinkie?"

Author's Note

Boom, another chapter done. Keep in mind that Aurelic was 20 when he was last on Earth, so he's had quite some time to practice wielding a lightsaber without hitting himself. Additionally, he only brings it in case he's going to need it. So when the changeling invasion inevitably happens, he won't be using it since he knows what they eventually become, and doesn't want to murder them for being misguided. Timberwolves on the other hand are evil creatures created by Grogar, not exactly something worth sparing, especially since they have the capacity to attack ponies with intent to kill and eat.